Toy vehicles have generally been a consistent play item for young boys because the toy vehicles have excellent play value. Propelling toy vehicles have varied from simply providing a manual push on a hard level playing surface to using gravity by placing roadway tracks at a high elevation. Propelling toy vehicles have also included mechanical power sources such as springs, and windup and flywheel motors, and electrical power sources.
In general toy vehicles and vehicle launchers are well known. For example, a 1972 U.S. Pat. No. 3,693,282, listing Adicks et al., as inventors, issued for a “Toy Vehicle Launching Device With Safety Mechanism” and purports to disclose a device for launching a toy vehicle, the device having a spring actuated piston and a latch bar for locking the piston in a cocked position. A vertical leg and a cross bar safety feature prevent operation of a button to pivot the latch bar out of a piston blocking position. When the device is held firmly against a support surface in a launch position, the leg and cross bar are raised and the button may be pressed to release the piston and propel the vehicle. Another 1972 U.S. Pat. No. 3,701,216, listing Smith et al., as inventors, issued for a “Wheel Apparatus And Rack And Pinion Launcher Enabling Repeated Strokes And Having Automatic Ejector” and purports to disclose a toy launcher with an output shaft and a gear train where the gear train is operated with a slidable gear rack which is hand manipulated. An ejector is mounted to the output shaft to force a shaft-mounted wheel of a vehicle off the shaft after the rack has energized the shaft.
A 1983 U.S. Pat. No. 4,403,440, listing Wulff as the inventor issued for a “Toy Vehicle Accelerator” and purports to disclose a device for launching a toy vehicle using an impeller and a spring. A second 1983 U.S. Pat. No. 4,418,495, listing Kennedy et al., as inventors, issued for a “Miniature Racing Vehicle And Wrist-Borne Launching Platform Assembly” and purports to disclose a wrist-borne launcher with a retractable ramp and a transparent covering hanger for a windup spring powered toy vehicle. The vehicle is held in place by friction-engaging elements mounted to the sides of the hanger. A push-button actuator mounted on the rear of the hanger engages the rear of the vehicle and when operated, pushes the vehicle free of the friction engaging elements allowing the windup spring to power the vehicle away from the launcher.
A year later, U.S. Pat. No. 4,472,906, listing Cock et al., as inventors, issued for a “Manually Activated Toy Vehicle Launcher” and purports to disclose a two piece launcher where one piece is slidable in one direction relative to the other piece and when quickly pushed in an opposite direction by a user, a toy vehicle is discharged. Another 1984 U.S. Pat. No. 4,483,096, listing Gabler et al., as inventors issued for a “Launching Platform For Inertia Vehicle” and purports to disclose an energizer and launcher for a toy vehicle having an inertia motor, such as a flywheel. The launcher includes a drawstring energizing mechanism mounted in the launcher and connected to the toy vehicle whereby a number of pulls on the drawstring energizes the inertia motor. The toy vehicle is then manually released. A 1987 U.S. Pat. No. 4,690,654, listing DeLaney as inventor issued for a “Toy Vehicle Carrying Case And Launcher” and purports to disclose a toy vehicle carrying case and launcher having a clip to attach the carrying case to a user's belt. The case is configured from two elements, a first element rotatably mounted to a second element so that when carried, the toy vehicle is enclosed. In operation, when the toy vehicle is initially loaded into the second element a launch spring is compressed. Pressing a spring-operated button opens the case to set up the toy vehicle for launch, and pressing a second button releases the launch spring to discharge the toy vehicle.
In 1988, a U.S. Pat. No. 4,732,569, listing Hippely et al., as inventors issued for a “Toy Vehicle Launcher” and purports to disclose a launcher for a toy vehicle having a flywheel motor. In operation, the toy vehicle is mounted to a launcher slide connected to a spring, and the toy vehicle and slide are retracted to tension the spring. Within the launcher is a set of wheels and a gear. The toy vehicle has a set of wheels that engage the launcher wheels. The launcher wheels are made to rotate by pulling on a flexible rack. At the end of the rack is a cam that is configured to engage a cam formed on the launcher so as to distort a portion of the launcher to release the toy vehicle. According to the disclosure, the spring loaded slide moves the toy vehicle along the launcher, and as the toy vehicle is pulled forward by the slide, the launcher wheels cause the rear wheels of the toy vehicle to rotate and provide the necessary energy to the flywheel motor of the toy vehicle.
A 1990 U.S. Pat. No. 4,946,417, listing Ishikawa et al., as inventors issued for a “Running Toy Shooting Apparatus” and purports to disclose a toy vehicle with a flywheel and a launcher with a draw string. The apparatus also includes a spring driven holder member. In operation, a user manually places the toy vehicle on the launcher and pushes against the holder member so as to tension a spring. The string is then pulled to energize the flywheel, and a button is pushed to release the toy vehicle. The forward movement of the holder member and the high rotational velocity of the flywheel result in a high initial toy vehicle velocity. A second 1990 U.S. Pat. No. 4,959,035, listing Murasaki as an inventor issued for a “Miniature Storage Container For A Manually Propelled Toy Member” and purports to disclose a toy apparatus including a flat rectangular toy case and a removable toy vehicle carried in the case. Several embodiments show the toy vehicle being energized with a pull rack, and one embodiment shows a toy vehicle being launched with a spring biased push member.
A 1993 U.S. Pat. No. 5,254,030, listing Ostendorff et al., as inventors issued for a “Rapid Action Toy Vehicle Launcher” and purports to disclose a toy vehicle launcher which is fed by two lines of toy vehicles located on two spaced apart tracks in the form of a “V.” A pivotal carriage moves between the two tracks and alternately launches toy vehicles with a spring-biased striker that is placed in tension at the same time that the carriage is realigned with one of the tracks. A 1996 U.S. Pat. No. 5,525,085, listing Liu as an inventor issued for a “Sparking Toy Vehicle And Launcher Therefore” and purports to disclose a toy apparatus including a sparking toy vehicle and a launcher having a push handle for inducing the sparks, and a spring-biased plunger for propelling the vehicle. A U.S. patent application published in 2008, No. 2008/0166947, listing Bernstein as an inventor for a “Spring-Powered Toy Vehicle And Launcher” purports to disclose a two part toy apparatus where a rear body portion is spring loaded to a front body portion so that when pulled apart and released the rear body portion moves toward the front body portion and propels the vehicle. In addition, a launcher to which the toy vehicle may be mounted includes a plunger and a spring biased plunger handle. When the handle is pulled back and released an additional source of power is provided for launching the toy vehicle. Lastly, a U.S. patent application published in 2009, No. 2009/0075556, listing Sun et al., as inventors for a “Vehicle Launcher Assembly” purports to disclose another two part toy apparatus including an outer vehicle operated by hand and an inner vehicle. When the inner vehicle is loaded into the outer vehicle a spring is compressed. Later when the outer vehicle is opened to expose the inner vehicle, a user may push a button to release the spring and propel the inner vehicle away from the outer vehicle. Examples of the inner and outer vehicles include a batmobile outer vehicle and a batman riding motorcycle for the inner vehicle.
These disclosures are interesting, but none disclose a simply operated device that allows a toy vehicle to be launched using two power sources where both are energizes at essentially the same time using the same launch structure.